Property in the Caribbean: Welcome to Cape Verde

For 10 little dots sprinkled off the coast of Africa, the property gold rush is on. Zoe Dare Hall visits an unlikely land of opportunity and tries to see the future

As the plane descends upon Sal island in Cape Verde, there is none of the frequent flyer's insouciance about coming in to land. All heads are pinned to the windows, eyes scouring the flat, barren, sandy outcrop 300 miles off West Africa.

For most passengers, it is their first visit to Cape Verde. Independent since 1975 after five centuries of Portuguese rule, it has not been a holiday destination long enough for people to be making return trips.

But since Thomson and Astraeus launched direct five-and-a-half-hour flights to Sal, it has started to gain recognition as a new winter-sun destination - the closest tropical islands to Europe, warmer and more exotic than the Canaries, nearer and cheaper than the Caribbean.

There is one thing, though, to bear in mind with Sal. There is next to nothing there at present. There are a few hotel resorts, which are always full, and fabulous beaches where you can see impressive kite-surfing displays, thanks to the breeze that keeps hot summers bearable.

But that is it. From any point on the tiny island - 18 miles long and less than two miles wide in some places - you can see the sea.

With so little in the way of tourist attractions yet, it is little wonder that some holidaymakers take a look at what local estate agents have to offer. And that is certainly more ample than the tourist attractions, with £1.5?billion of private investment scheduled in the next five years.

On Sal, only Vila Verde's concrete blocks currently break the endless sandscape, the first phase set to complete in early 2009. That is where Parador Properties is selling studio apartments from £57,500.

But set to dominate the west coast is the Cotton Bay Resort, with 4,000 apartments starting at about £90,000, with villa prices yet to be confirmed. The style is highly contemporary, with western levels of luxury, and only 7 per cent of the 1,000-acre plot will be built on, the rest comprising gardens, golf courses and salt lakes.

You just need the vision to see beyond the empty expanses to the major island resort that Sal is set to become in the next five to 10 years.

"The west coast will be wall-to-wall golf courses, big-name hotels, marinas and six major developments stretching from Santa Maria [the emerging tourist hub in the south] to the small town of Espargos," says Darren Mitchell, who set up his Cape V property agency three years ago, anticipating that Sal's potential would be unleashed by the arrival of direct flights.

"There's no jet-lag, as Cape Verde is just one hour behind the UK," he adds. "There are no hurricanes. Everyone speaks English. This was clearly going to become a popular destination."

Cape V is selling 22 developments on Sal, three on lushly tropical Santiago and three on Boa Vista, which is "similar to Sal but five years behind". The other key English agent in Cape Verde is Noscasa, with properties on seven islands.

By insisting upon low-rise, low-density developments set back from the beach, the government of Cape Verdea aspires to turn Sal into a mini Barbados, rather than Tenerife.

And to dispel doubts about how an island that relies on imports can sustain so many large new resorts, coastal desalination plants and £20?million of wind turbines are among the self-sufficiency measures on their way, along with greenhouses where grass, palms and flowers are being cultivated to make the resorts look lived-in and to give the beach a greener backdrop.

Standing on a hillock overlooking the west coast, John Jackson, of the Resort Group, points out that most of the nothingness has sold out. He sold 90 properties on Sal in January alone.

"Paradise Beach, which will have a Nikki Beach club, has sold out. Vila Verde only has a couple of units left," he gestures across the emptiness. By the end of this year, he expects to sell out Dunas Beach, whose 695 apartments and villas start at £80,000, and Tortuga Bay, with 358 apartments and villas from £110,000 overlooking the island's best beach, Ponta Preta.

"The coast will be a building site for the next two or three years," he adds.

"But, in seven years, the masterplan will be complete and Savills, which valued our developments, calculates a 10-year time-line for investors to make the maximum gains from capital growth. Developments here will also have a potential 35-week annual rental season, with the golfers and windsurfers and big interest from Scandinavian, Russian and European holidaymakers."

Early investors have done well, with prices doubling in two years. Large beachfront villas in Santa Maria, built a few years ago, have hit the €1?million (£800,000) mark. And with the Cape Verdean escudo linked to the euro, the launch of euro mortgages next year is likely to boost investment potential further.

"The first generation of investors didn't even bother to fly over because they couldn't face having to change planes in Lisbon," says Cape V's Darren Mitchell.

"They bought purely to sell before completion and they've made good money."

He cites Porto Antigo in Santa Maria as an example: in 2005, two-bedroom apartments sold for £70,000 off-plan; now they are going for £180,000.

Mark Boustead, a police sergeant, and his wife Paula, 31, a bank manager, from Gateshead, have bought two apartments in Cotton Bay, a one-bedder for £92,000 and a two-bedroom flat for £140,000, both of which they will rent out.

"We were drawn by the fact that it is an emerging market and it has year-round sunshine," says Mark, 33.

"Cape Verde is at the right stage of development to make the most of off-plan opportunities and Cotton Bay looks like being the best resort on the island."

Paola Mariani, sales manager for Cotton Bay, likens the island to Fuerteventura in the Canaries.

"It has the same barren landscapes and the wind," she says. In the past year, she adds, it has rained for just 20 minutes.

"Sal has a fantastic location," she says. "It's the belly-button of the world, three hours from Brazil or South Africa, six hours from Boston, one hour to Europe."

Santiago Island, 35 minutes by plane from Sal (until Cape Verde Airlines relaunches direct flights from the UK) is another story altogether. It is the largest and most African of the islands, and its landscape is the antithesis of Sal, with lush valleys, jagged peaks and villages where everyone waves as you pass by.

"Santiago is where Cape Verdeans move to work," says Xaya Fortes, from Sambala, an eco-conscious development on the island's south-east tip.

"All the container ships from Europe to Africa and Brazil come through here. But people are still poor, as there are seven women to every man, so most men have about six wives."

The first new townhouses at Sambala are ready and the next phase is 85 per cent sold, with prices from £135,000 for a two-bedroom house, through Cape V.

All 350 apartments sold out two years ago, says resort director Justin Crowther.

"Buyers are divided between pure investors, middle professionals looking for capital growth until they retire in a few years, and semi-retired people who want to spend up to six months a year in the warmth here," he says.

"We have a large number of units ready to be handed over - we're just waiting for the notary. There is only one notary in the capital, Praia, and the island has never dealt with property completions on this scale."

Sambala is impressive in every aspect: its facilities, including 38 pools, golf, tennis academies and sailing school; its self-sustaining measures, using wind power and biofuels in one of Africa's driest corners; and its commitment to the community, employing mainly local people and building roads and schools.

Ponta Bicuda is the other notable development on Santiago, five minutes from the airport with ocean-front properties, from £61,000 through Noscasa, ready in 2011.

The islands vary greatly, but one thing prevails: the sense that "this is Africa - you have to accept that".

"Cape Verde is a place you come to when you want to feel you have had a break. Your phone probably won't work and it takes a long time to get things done," says John Jackson.

"Go to a restaurant when you're not hungry," he advises, "because by the time the food arrives, you will be."

The Cape Verde islands lie 300 miles off Senegal in West Africa, an hour's flight further south than the Canaries. They have a population of 500,000. There are 10 main islands, all inhabited apart from Santa Lucia, and all within a 50-minute flight from Sal.

At present, it is hard to island-hop, as flights aren't entirely reliable; there are plans to launch an air ferry service. You can catch boats (a choppy way to travel) between some islands - for instance, Sal to Boa Vista takes an hour-and-a-half. You can only reach some islands by boat: to get to Sant Antao you have to fly to San Vicente, then catch a 10-minute fishing boat.

Sao Vicente

Larger and more European than Sal, São Vicente is "one for the future", says Cape V's Darren Mitchell. Its heart is the attractive colonial town of Mindelo: Cape Verde's cultural capital is a haven to singers, writers and poets.

Noscasa (www.noscasacv.com, 020 7872 5690) is marketing the Fortim Mindelo "boutique resort" from £239,000 for a two-bedroom apartment, set around a 19th-century hill fort and with a chic Nikki Beach club. Mindelo is also the place for old colonial houses, costing from £350,000 near the waterfront.

Boa Vista

Just 11 minutes by plane from Sal, Boa Vista is all about fishing and long, deserted beaches that are great for watersports. An international airport is being built. A six-star resort is on its way, too: the chic, modern Palm View, whose apartments have floor-to-ceiling sea views.

There are nine pools, restaurants, and you can buy an apartment here from £48,000 through Jet2Let Property (0113 313 1000, www.jet2let property.com).

Cape Verde Property (www.capeverdeproperty.co.uk, 01753 859233) is selling apartments at Sabi Sands, 300 yards from the beach, from £65,000 and villas from £220,000. Noscasa is selling apartments on the west coast's Casa Velha development from £32,000.

Sant Antao, Sao Nicolao, Santa Lucia

Hard to get to and largely agricultural, there is little development on these islands. Sant Antao, an hour by ferry from São Vicente, is the greenest island, with mountains, gorges and incredible wildlife. An airport is due to open soon.

Noscasa is selling apartments in the frontline Porto Novo development from £103,000. Mountainous São Nicolao has two towns, including the fishing port of Tarrafal, and is a weekend escape for Cape Verdeans. The airport has flights to Sal and São Vicente. Santa Lucia is more barren, known as "goat island" for obvious reasons.

Fogo, Maio, Brava

In this southern set of islands, actively volcanic Fogo - with black beaches - is the wettest, wine-producing island, 50 minutes flight from Sal, and home to western Africa's highest peak, at 2,800m. Maio and Brava are largely untouched.

Maio, a short ferry ride from Santiago, has white beaches and sugar cane plantations. It is just starting to see the first signs of development. Noscasa has off-plan beach villas for £250,000. Brava is known for its abundant flowers.